Shiba Kyouichi
|rōmaji = Kyōichi Shiba |age = 20s |gender = Male |hair = Brown |eyes = Red |status = Alive |relative = Jin Toujou (Genetic Template) |race = Chimera (Hero) |affiliation = Vatican (Former) Hero Clan (Former) Toujou Family |occupation = Hero (Former) Personal Detective |light novel = Volume II |manga = Chapter 13 |anime = Episode 5 |voice actor = Daisuke Hirakawa (Japanese) Brian Beacock (English)}} Shiba Kyouichi (斯波 恭一, Kyōichi Shiba) is a powerful Hero kept in the prisons of the Japanese Branch of the Hero Clan. In Volume 2, he was partnered up with Kurumi, Takashi, and Yuki as an observer tasked with eliminating Mio who at the time was deemed as an S-Rank threat by the Village. It was soon revealed that Shiba is a chimera using DNA from Jin Toujou but was soon imprisoned in the Hero Clan due to the threat that he could pose. After his defeat in Volume 11, Shiba became a servant of Basara Toujou through the Master-Servant Contract and now works for him as a kind of personal detective, as well as being his trump card in an eventual battle with the Ten Gods. Appearance Shiba is a tall well-built young man in his twenties with long brown hair tied using red ribbons and he has been seen to be dressed in the main combat uniform of the Hero Clan. He is seen to have his eyes narrowed into slits and rarely opens them, however, when he finally opens them it shown that they are black with slit red pupils. He also keeps his face set in a mocking smile, which Shiba only wipes off on rare occasions of annoyance, surprise or anger. Shiba is later seen wearing casual clothing outside his uniform and after leaving the Hero Clan. Personality He was first introduced as a calm and joyful person. Unlike a portion of the Heroes from the village in Japan, he doesn't hold a grudge against Basara due to the incident from five years ago where he lost control of Banishing Shift. Shiba appeared to be loyal to the village and followed the Elders' instruction without question as he was sent to eliminate Mio as an S-Rank Target without question despite being imprisoned due to how dangerous he is and even causing a certain "incident". Despite not hating Basara, Shiba questioned Basara who he felt was screwing around by protecting the daughter of the former Demon Lord but still acted as a minor overseer. Despite his jocking side, Shiba has shown to be very intelligence and level-headed, as he had continued to think about forming a strong barrier that wouldn't cause damage to the city, while it also had to be a suitable location for their fight, while initially stopping both Takashi and Kurumi from fighting in the barrier that Valga created. However, the loyalty that he held towards the Elders was all a facade so that he could prepare for his true goal to enact his vengeance against both the Vatican and Hero Clan for creating and imprisoning him. Though Shiba had initially hated and cursed himself for being born as one of their experiments, he later started to feel flattered that the Vatican went to such lengths to clone and recreate the power of Jin Toujou, even feeling respect for the latter. Despite all of his actions and putting people on edge, Shiba has never told a lie about the reasons for his actions and was outspoken about them and when fight he's relatively honest. He understands the true nature of the Hero Clan and firmly believes that he's saving the world by destroying them, which Basara himself agreed with to a certain extent, but still believed that the world needs the hero clan. Though Shiba doesn't hesitate to use even normal humans to achieve his goals, knowing that by removing the barrier he put around Kyoto could cause the Four Gods to run amok, which is the last resort for him to succeed. Shiba's confident in his abilities and prides himself on his intellect. He doesn't mind going out of his way to explain himself, and even gives credit to people such as Basara that can follow along with his thought process. He's direct and has a way with words that often cause him to get under people's skin and put them on edge a bit. Though Shiba ultimately loses to Basara, he was grateful to Basara and Chisato for sparing his life. He accepted the terms of Basara's contract knowing that one mistake could easily end his life. He takes solace in the fact that although he lost to Basara, he was still able to achieve his revenge against the Vatican and with that little bit of solace, he agrees to obediently follow Basara. History After Albareos, the commander of the Frontlines and Special Department in the Vatican failed to clone Jin Toujou several times using his DNA and forbidden magic with four other batches of clones. Instead of making attempts to reproduce his abilities, it was later decided that it would be better to create a far stronger being by combining the cells of mythical beasts, as well as normal and guardian spirits. After more failures and corruption caused, one of the Ten Gods, Reginleif became involved resulting in better results. Among the thirteenth batch, Shiba Kyouichi was born and was first deemed a failure, until it was found out that he solved their issues with the corruption inside of him due to having the cells of a high-ranking demon within him, as well as convert that into power. This meant that Shiba could become as powerful as Jin causing them to focus on making him stronger. However, he started growing too powerful and Shiba couldn't be killed since the corruption stored within him could also be released engulf the entire Vatican. And couldn't ask Reginleif for help since they believed that he returned to the Divine Realm. Unbeknownst to them, the high-ranked god tried to absorb Shiba using two armguards to attain all his powers for himself, however, he instead ended up being absorbed in Shiba granting him Reginleif's powers, memories, and knowledge. Looking for people to share to blame for Shiba's creation, in exchange for far more political power, a symbiotic relationship between both the Vatican and Japanese Hero Clan was born. Shiba would soon spend the next twenty years of his life imprisoned like a bird in a cage plotting his revenge. Powers and Abilities Hero and Chimeric Powers Shiba is a powerful Hero considered to be over-talented and more dangerous than Banishing Shift, differing from most heroes, he emits a red-black aura, with his presence alone being able to make everyone feel unnerved. His power is said to be so incomprehensible that it might exceed the Four Gods combined. Shiba is later revealed to be a chimera made using cells from Jin and a High-Ranking Demon, being able to absorb and convert corruption into power, granting him the potential to rival Jin himself. After absorbing Reginleif, he became a being that even the Hero Clan couldn't oppose. In Volume XI, once Shiba amassed almost infinite ki after synchronizing with Kouryuu, being compatible with the Five Elements, and using Reginleif's full power made him superior to Basara and co who completed their Master-Servant Vow. It was said that if he were to absorb the manifested Kouryuu, then he could become an omnipotent being, however, his loss was due to him being unable to obtain the power of Yang, a major flaw in his plan. *'Immense Strength:' Shiba has immense strength superior to that of most heroes and even demons, as he could break the barrier, which withstood Valga's powerful shock waves using a light attack. He was able to withstand Basara's Gravity Slash, blocked Brynhildr using one hand, then even send him backward a great distance into the Zojoji Temple. *'Immense Speed:' Although not on par with Basara, Shiba is an extremely fast and agile fighter, being able to appear in front of him without being noticed in a false attempt to kill him. In their initial clash, he was able to avoid all Basara's attacks even react when he used his Banyuusekiryoku to move at god-like speed. Corruption Absorption: Due to having demon cells, Shiba has the unique power to absorb and store corruption, then convert that into power. Despite him being more dangerous than Banishing Shift, no one could kill him as it might release all the corruption stored inside him and end the Hero Clan. Shiba can absorb living beings, as he absorbed Reginleif taking his powers, knowledge, and memories. Inside of him is an absolute dark abyss, which could entrap even Reginleif, who was unable to escape and vanished. Ki Manipulation: Shiba is a ki-based fighter afforded multiple abilities by using the ki from himself, others, and the environment. He almost killed Takashi after he overloaded him with ki leaving little options to heal him. Shiba can absorb and channel the ki found in nature or Five Elements, gaining a gold aura after absorbing earth-based ki. It is possible for him to fire ki waves, hide his presence and appear invisible, and control the ki found in magic such as Banyuusekiryoku. Like being able to absorb limitless corruption, Shiba can potentially absorb limitless ki from the planet, especially after syncing with Kouryuu. *'Ki Sense:' This is first hinted in Volume 2, as Shiba could feel both the events and fights in the barrier after being kicked out by Takashi. By sensing others ki, he can sense and predict the attacks from opponents as fast as Basara based on things such as a presence and killing intent, letting Shiba efficiently avoid them. He could sense that corrected spiritual balance inside Basara, the Ki of the unborn children in a woman's womb and discover a person's identity based upon their Ki. *'Ki Barrier: '''An ultimate defense technique enveloping Shiba's entire body in a flow of Ki. Attacks that would be otherwise fatal are completely nullified. Shiba is forced to use this ability after Basara begins utilizing the activation concept of Universal Rejection in order to guard against the penetration of Shiba's Ki attacks. *'Ars Decidium:' This is a specialized combat style, which focuses on the Art of God Killing that is applicable to both High-Level Gods and Demons. Shiba explained that Ars Decidium is a primordial power akin to that of Banishing Shift, but it grants him different abilities instead of just one. **'Fifth Form - Nine-Headed Kusanagi:' This is the Fifth Form of Ars Decidium, where Shiba creates an assortment of magatama, which surrounds and entraps his intended target. **'Eighth Form - Tamemikazuchi:' This is the Eighth Form of Ars Decidium, where all of the magatamas release black and red lightning restricting his target's movements before they're electrocuted. **'Tenth Form - Kurikara:' This is the Tenth Form of Ars Decidium, where Shiba uses ki to create a four-headed hellfire breathing dragon. **'Final Form - Totsuka Blade:' This is the Final Form of Ars Decidium, where Shiba combines all five different ki to create a sword able to releases a unique flow of energy, which can cut through concepts. '''Master Combatant:' Shiba is among the most skilled and fearsome combatants in the series despite lacking the normal Hero training due to his imprisonment. He could effortlessly defeat Takashi and Celis, both powerful and skilled heroes in their own right. He overpowered Basara and even almost succeeded in killing him in their initial match. Shiba is shown to utilize kicks and punches covered in ki most of the time, but whenever he gets serious, he uses Reginleif. Magic Expert: Aside from his combat skills, Shiba is skilled in magic being able to make a Byakko Replica using Georgius. He could use the Four Gods to create a near-perfect three-dimensional barrier around Kyoto (though it was weakened at the west side due to not having the real Byakko at the time) and create a visual scream to view others' actions inside the barrier. Due to having demonic DNA, he also has the dark element as shown in Volume XI in his second fight with Basara. Master-Servant Contract (Servant): Basara had decided to form a master-servant contract with Chisato's help to alleviate her worries about an eventual conflict with the Ten Gods. Instead of using Maria's power, he instead used his, as such, if Shiba ever betrayed him, he would be sent to the zero dimension. This contract was formed during the immediate aftermath of Basara's battle with Shiba in secret. Other Skills Master Strategist: He is a master strategist and manipulator as he planned several moves ahead of Basara and the Elders, who are known as great thinkers among their respective groups. Shiba can use the simplest of ideas that the four of them overlooked such as choosing to bring down Kouryuu instead of summoning him, then tricked Basara into bringing Byakko after stealing Georgius, which he planned on using as a vessel for Kouryuu from the start. He is also skilled in psychological warfare, using the emotional situations of others to put them on edge. Equipment Reginleif: The Ten God in-charge of the cloning protect who attempted to absorb Shiba by using two armguards, but he instead got absorbed becoming his gauntlets. He was shown to be able to use them to create an invisible forcefield with a circular motion of his arms. Chisato explained that Reginleif far surpasses Brynhildr and Sakuya in terms of raw power alone. *'Corrupted Armor:' In Volume XI, Shiba has allowed Reginleif to corrode him, thus absorbing the Ten God into himself in order to bring out his power, causing an organic armor akin to a demonic exoskeleton, likely due to possessing demonic cells. This armor also appears to be made from materials different from what the magical gauntlets were made from, four colors that represent all the Four Elements: Fire (red), Metal (white), Water (black), and Wood (blue). It is noted that both Fire and Metal were dominant due to Reginleif who wielded flames, both of which would soon be strengthened further if Shiba absorbed Kouryuu achieving a balance with the Five Elements. However, if done under normal conditions, this process would've swallowed his flesh and mind if he hadn't accumulated the four elements beforehand. In this form, he decided to sacrifice his humanity to kill both gods and demons alike with the armor being incredibly durable enough to handle slashes from Yuki without a single scratch. Totsuka-no-Tsurugi (十拳剣, Sword of Length of Ten Fists): In his final battle with Basara, Shiba, while wearing Reginlief, combined five different ki to create a red-colored god sword to use as a final trump card against Basara. *'Reginleif's Soul:' Hidden inside of the depts of the dark abyss within Shiba is the soul of Reginleif who had vanished within him, which is the source of Shiba's infinite ki. Although it was partially destroyed by Basara, it's able to regenerate itself over time. Trivia *His first name (斯波) means "Turf", "Lawn" or "Ground". **His surname name (恭一) means "Respectful One". *Shiba is the only villain who almost successfully kill Basara in battle one on one as well as the most powerful enemy that he ever faced so far. *After the events of volume 11, Shiba moves into Chisato's old apartment and lives rent-free. *Shiba's name comes from the number 48 (Shi=4, ba=8) which is a direct reference to the successful experiment in a number of trials that resulted in his creation. Category:Male Characters Category:Characters Category:Heroes Category:Former Antagonists